| |
| Late
in the 1940s I visited our state's namesake battleship with my family because
a visiting uncle, E.F. Chartrau, a landlubber from Missouri who had never before
seen an ocean, wanted to view the vessel that had been "home" for part of WWII
for his daughter Dorothy, an Army nurse. I have made several subsequent visits,
including an inspection as part of an inquiry into the Texas
parks system in 1998. The old lady has had many ups and downs within that
fifty years. |
Battleship
Texas
Photo Courtesy
Captain Robert L. Sadler, Jr. |
The keel
for the Texas was laid at Newport News Shipbuilding Company in 1911; she
was christened on May 18, 1912 and commissioned on March 12, 1914. A previous
vessel with that name was rechristened the San Marcos so Texas could
be used by the newer, larger battleship.
The Texas served in the
Atlantic fleet in WWI and was
present at the surrender of the German Imperial Fleet in 1918. After the war she
was refitted from steam to oil-fired burners and in 1927 became flagship for the
fleet. During WWII,
the Texas was engaged in escort duty in the North Atlantic; supported Allied
landings in North Africa; served as flagship for the bombardment group for landings
on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944, when the Allies invaded France in Normandy;
then shifted to the Pacific Theater to support landings on Iwo Jima and Okinawa;
and was present when the US reoccupied the Philippines. Worn out from the war,
the Texas became the first memorial battleship and historic landmark, which
is a polite way to say that the Navy no longer needed her and shifted responsibility
for the old girl to the State of Texas. Governor Coke Stevens accepted the Texas
in 1946, though she remained a commissioned vessel until 1948.
The Battleship
Texas Commission installed their ship in a berth at San Jacinto State Park in
the Ship Channel near Houston.
There she rested, and deteriorated, until custody was transferred to Texas Parks
& Wildlife.
TP&W inherited a property damaged by years of neglect and
mistakes. By then the Texas had settled on the bottom of its mooring, concrete
had been poured across its deck, and rust was pervasive and winning. In 1988 the
ship was refloated and towed to the Todd Shipyard in Galveston.
Steel plating was replaced, anti-aircraft guns remounted, necessary structural
repairs made, and she was repainted a camouflage blue before she was returned
to her home in the ship channel. There work continues to restore compartments
to their WWII status
so visitors may see what it was like, back then.
All
Things Historical August 5-11, 2001 column
(Archie P. McDonald
is Director of the East Texas Historical Association and author or editor of over
20 books on Texas)
See
Also:
San
Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site
TRAVEL INFORMATION
22 miles East of downtown Houston
via Hwy 225 and 134
Admissions.
Hours: Open daily 9AM - 5PM
Closed
Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
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